


V is for Valentine's

by millieee



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Pretend Boyfriends, Romance, Total Fluff, Valentine's Day, because we all love that, finally decided to use my AO3 for posting, millie can't write fic on time, these boys are adorable, urmrmrm, wow didn't know that was a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 10:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millieee/pseuds/millieee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Arthur hates Valentines, Merlin tries to make a Flying Scotsman and everybody thinks they are together. Even though they're not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	V is for Valentine's

**Author's Note:**

> TOTAL FLUFF seriously, can't believe I wrote it  
> Speaking of, I kind of wrote this last night very late and decided against posting because it could have been awful and I'd have had no idea. Heck, this might still be awful, but I'm sick of looking at it and it can't be TWO days late, so here ya go.  
> Un-beta'd so just let me know of any glaring errors (:

‘I’m going to be alone _forever_.’ Merlin declared, slumping gracefully on the sofa. Or at least he liked to hope it was graceful; he could never really tell whether he pulled graceful off. Arthur certainly never seemed to think so, but then Arthur was _Arthur_ and well. He was a mystery.

Said mystery snorted in a manner that was decidedly _un_ -graceful, before kicking his legs up onto Merlin’s and _ruining_ his artful slump.

‘Stop being so melodramatic. _You_ broke up with _him._ He’s the one you should pity. A week before Valentine’s Day? Harsh, Merlin, harsh.’

Merlin groaned, pressing his head into the cushions ‘Shut _up_. Cedric and I were hardly even together and he’s not exactly heartbroken.’ He turned his head, one eye peeking out, before adding ‘I just saw him out with another guy.’

Arthur sobered immediately ‘Are you... I mean, does that...bother you?’

Merlin huffed out a laugh ‘No’ he glanced up and caught Arthur’s expression ‘ _Really_. Me and him weren’t serious. Honestly _,_ Arthur. I guess it’s just. Ugh’ he pressed his head back into the cushions again, one arm thrown over his head.

Arthur poked him with his foot ‘Just what?’

Merlin gave a non-committal grunt, so Arthur slowly increasing the pressure ‘Merlin. Merrrrlin. Merrrrrrrrrlin. Merrrrr-‘

‘Argh!’ Merlin rolled over, pushing at Arthur’s legs ‘It’s just that I didn’t really expect to be alone _again._ I mean, I thought me and Gwaine... and then Will...I just didn’t think about it, you know?’

Arthur felt a sting of guilt, remembering the Will mess. ‘Why’s it such a big deal?’

Merlin shrugged ‘I don’t know. S’Valentine’s isn’t it? No one really wants to be alone anyway, but then they bring along Valentine’s and it just rubs it in your face. And I _hate_ feeling like this because I usually _love_ Valentine’s. It’s just the whole...being single thing.’ He paused and then added ‘also I have this ridiculous dinner with Gwen tonight and _everyone_ will be all paired up. Ugh.’

Arthur didn’t really have a reply to that so he made sympathetic noises. He’d broken up with his girlfriend months ago, so was in the stage of being over her, but not really ready for anyone new; he couldn’t say he was that fussed about Valentine’s. It had always been his least favourite holiday to be honest. Then again, Merlin had always been an odd one.

An odd one who couldn’t sit still apparently, he thought as Merlin jumped up from the sofa, knocking Arthur’s legs to the floor as he did so.

‘I’m going out.’

‘You’ve only just got in!’ said Arthur, mildly indignant

Merlin waved a hand ‘Yes, yes, but I’ve got to speak to Gaius. I’ll be back later.’

Arthur sighed ‘Right, fine, I’ll be here _working_ like a mature human being.’

Merlin pulled a face ‘On Valentine’s?’

‘Merlin, just because there are greetings cards does _not_ mean a day off work. How many times are we going over this? I thought the National Hugging Day fiasco would have taught you a lesson.’

Merlin laughed ‘Shut up. I’ll see you later.’

Arthur shook his head as the door slammed, still not used to Merlin’s energy after knowing him for almost 20 years. But then again, he might just be keeping busy to distract himself from tonight. Arthur frowned, Merlin may be good at hiding it, but Arthur could tell he was a bit gutted about being single for Valentine’s. The sting of guilt was back, the Will debacle had been mostly his fault – not that Merlin would ever say anything – and maybe Merlin wouldn’t have been single if not for him. He needed to make it up to him.

A plan began forming in Arthur’s mind and he grinned, maybe working on Valentine’s was over rated after all?

 

* * *

 

Merlin dragged his feet as he headed back to the flat. Only an hour to go until this bloody dinner. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t like the people that were going as much as he just hated being the _only single person_ there _._ And then he was confronted with 6 or so happy couples all doing adorable things like give each other chocolate hearts or kiss under the mistletoe – no wait, that was a different holiday – Merlin shook his head. Either way, it was sickening. And this was the 3rd year running where he’d have to turn up, smile at Gwen until she stopped worrying, then leave as early as possible to avoid getting paired up with George in the ‘Party games for Couples!!!’  that Gwen loved so much (and yes. The invite had had three exclamation marks). Ah well, the sooner he got there the sooner he could leave, he supposed.

So it was with somewhat morose thoughts that he opened up the door to the flat and was confronted with the slightly overpowering scent of roses, an enormous box of chocolates and a huge bundle of heart-shaped balloons, right in the hallway.

What the hell was going on?

 

* * *

 

 

It had been harder than expected to find heart-shaped balloons on Valentine’s Day. Honestly. All the gift shops had sold out so he’d had to drive to a bloody _supermarket_ and Arthur Pendragon did not do supermarkets. Ever.

It was worth it though, to see Merlin’s confused face at the overwhelming display of tack assaulting him as he got in the front door.

‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’ Arthur pulled a party popper in Merlin’s, now verging on scared, face.

‘Arthur, what’s going on?’

‘It’s Valentine’s Day.’

‘...yes, I was aware of that. In fact we were speaking earlier today about this very thing. That doesn’t really explain, uh, this’ he gestured frantically, as though he were worried for Arthur’s mental health.

Arthur rolled his eyes ‘Look, you didn’t have a date for tonight’s stupid dinner, and I don’t want to work today, so there you have it.’

Merlin still looked confused ‘There I have what, exactly?’

‘God, _Mer_ lin are you always this slow? Actually don’t answer that, I know you are-’ Merlin huffed indignantly ‘- _I_ am going to be your Valentine’s date tonight, ok? Me.’

‘...you.’ said Merlin flatly

‘Yes! Me! Don’t you see how great this is?! I get a night off, you get a great night out and Gwen gets to stop worrying that you’ll grow old alone. Win-win-win situation. Now go and get dressed, I am _not_ being the date of some-’ he scrunched up his nose’- some scruffy student.’

Merlin looked at him ‘I _am_ a scruffy student’

‘Yes but you can pretend otherwise for tonight. Now go.’

Merlin went, albeit slightly mystified as to what the hell was actually going on, but still. He was sure Arthur’s heart was in the right place.

 

* * *

 

 

‘Stop _fussing_.’

Merlin sighed and forced his hands to rest on the seat, trying to hold still ‘This is weird.’

Arthur rolled his eyes ‘How is this weird?’

Merlin looked at him incredulously ‘How is this _not_ weird?!’

‘Look, it’s just for one night. How hard can it be?’

Merlin dropped his head back against the chair, absolutely _not_ thinking about the twist in his stomach at the ‘just one night’, and groaned.

Arthur laughed ‘You are such a drama queen’

He pulled the car up and stopped outside Gwen’s house, plunging the car into silence as he turned the engine off.

‘You ready?’

Merlin grinned to cover his nerves ‘Am I ready to pretend that I _don’t_ think you’re an arrogant prat? Why yes, I think I am.’

He jumped out of the car before Arthur could get too indignant. He was strangely nervous about this whole thing, although he didn’t really know why; it was just Arthur. He and Arthur had been friends for almost 2 decades (although the first 5 years might not exactly count as ‘friendship’ years) and there was really nothing to be nervous _about_ anymore when it came to him. All the same, it was with something akin to butterflies in his stomach that he approached the door and pressed the buzzer.

Arthur joined him a moment later, muttering something about a rough neighbourhood, to which Merlin replied _We’re not all heirs to multi-million pound businesses, Arthur._ Some _of us actually_ struggle _with money_ which always tended to shut Arthur up fairly quickly.

He saw Gwen approaching through the glass and took a deep breath. He could do this, it was fine. It was only lying to his best friend. Absolutely fine.

He felt a gloved hand slip into his, squeezing gently ‘Stop worrying, Merlin.’

He turned to Arthur in surprise, who just smiled in response before nodding to where Gwen was obviously struggling with the door ‘Got to make it believable.’

Merlin nodded, of course. Believable, right, he could do that. And then the door was opening and Gwen was rushing apologies; ‘I’m so sorry, the bloody catch is brok- _’_ she broke off, taking in the two of them, standing there together.

Merlin smiled as widely as he could. ‘Hi, Gwen.’

‘Uh, hi, Merlin... and Arthur?’

Arthur grinned. ‘Hey, Gwen. Long time no see.’

‘Yeah... I didn’t know you were coming tonight. Not that you aren’t welcome!’ she added hastily ‘because you are! Definitely welcome. Just I, uh, didn’t expect you, um, here.’

Arthur laughed ‘No, we thought we’d make it a surprise, didn’t we Merlin?’ he squeezed again on Merlin’s hand, who just nodded dumbly, hoping against hope that they’d get away with this.

Gwen studied them, eyes darting down to their interlinked hands ‘So are you two... together?’

‘Yep.’

Gwen’s face broke into a huge grin ‘Ohmygod! I’m so happy for you!’ She enveloped them into a huge hug, only marginally restricting their breathing and then stepped back, clapping her hands together ‘I can’t wait to tell the others! Gwaine will be pleased.’

Merlin frowned in confusion ‘Uh, why?’

‘Oh,’ Gwen blushed ‘Um, he and my brother have a bit of a bet going on I think...Anyway! Come in out of the cold, there are drinks in the other room – can I take your coats?’

 

* * *

 

 

‘So when did you two finally get it together then?’

The small crowd went quiet at once, all attention back onto Merlin and Arthur. Again. Their friends were running out of good gossip. There were a few moments of silence and then;

‘About a month ago’ said Merlin

‘A few months ago’ said Arthur, at the same time.

‘Umm, well, what we mean is, obviously, uh-’

Arthur cut into Merlin’s stuttering smoothly ‘We sort of made it official last month, but it’s been going on for a while.’

‘I knew it!’ yelled Gwaine ‘Jammy bastard, you told me you were single at Christmas! I bought you drinks!’ he pointed accusingly at Merlin ‘You owe me.’

Merlin felt his face flush and he gripped more tightly on Arthur’s hand. He couldn’t believe they were getting away with this, he kind of felt bad. But then he saw Gwen looking at him and _not_ worrying for once and he remembered why this was definitely worth it.

Although, the amount of exclamations of ‘Finally!’ that broke out when Gwen announced them as a couple was a little disconcerting.

 

* * *

 

Merlin was trapped. He didn’t know how it had happened, but George had got him trapped in the kitchen, carefully situated so all his exits were blocked.

For some reason he felt it his sacred duty to teach Merlin how to make the perfect cocktail. He seemed to have prepared an entire lesson on the subject and he’d managed to slip that bloody brass joke in _four_ times already. Merlin made a groan that he tried to pass off as some sort of amused noise before surreptitiously  checking the door again in hope of rescue; no such luck, everybody was busy with ‘Party Games for Couples!!!’  He turned reluctantly back to George, who didn’t seemed to have noticed his pupil’s lack of attention.

‘-and _this_ is how you shake the cocktail. It ensures _optimum_ dispersion of the different liquids. Now, let’s move on to actually _making_ a cocktail, how about the Flying Scotsman?’ George looked at him earnestly and Merlin just stared back, trying very hard to come up with some excuse to get out of this. The pause was just stretching into awkward territory, George waiting expectantly for some form of assent, when Merlin felt himself enveloped in warmth.

‘Mmmm, hello Merlin.’ Arthur nuzzled into Merlin’s neck, kissing below his ear.

Flushing, Merlin hissed ‘What are you _doing_?’

‘Rescuing you of course,’ Arthur muttered into his ear ‘Although it might take a bit more than this, he’s looking fairly insistent on his bloody cocktails.’

‘What do you mea-mmmph!’ Merlin spluttered as Arthur caught his lips with his own, hands reaching down to pin Merlin’s wrists to his sides. Merlin could feel himself blushing, and the butterflies from earlier were now definitely worse, because this, _this,_ was not a bad kiss.

And then Arthur’s lips were gone and he was saying something to George and then Merlin found himself towed back into the living room where, thankfully, the ‘Party Games for Couples!!!’ were over.

Arthur left him straight away, just a quick smile and then he was off to talk to Morgana, his terrifying half-sister, and Leon. And so Merlin was left to his own devices, which invariably led to thinking about kissing his best friend.

It had been nice.

 _Very_ nice.

So nice, in fact, that if it hadn’t been _Arthur_ doing the kissing, he’d probably be wanting more of it right now.

Oh God, he needed air. And a drink. And _not_ a bloody Flying Scotsman.

 

* * *

 

 

‘I’m glad you two are finally together, you know’ said Morgana, sounding possibly the most sincere Arthur have ever heard he be. ‘He’s good for you.’

Arthur turned to look at her; eyebrows raised ‘Merlin?’

Morgana snorted at his incredulity, ‘Yes, _Merlin_. He makes you less of an ass.’

‘Gee, thanks Morgana, tell me how you really feel.’

‘Shut up.’

There was a pause, amicable silence falling between them, and then;

‘You look a lot happier when you’re with him, that’s all. It’s like... I don’t know but you’re just better with him.’ She tilted her head ‘He makes you look like what Leon makes me feel.’

Arthur’s head jerked up in shock. It was blatantly obvious for everyone to see that Leon and Morgana were arse-over-tits in love, but such a declaration was rare from his sister. She flushed slightly ‘I, um, well, we’re thinking about getting married. Don’t tell anyone though.’

Arthur’s jaw dropped. ‘Really?!’ He hugged her ‘Congratulations, Morgs, I’m really happy for you.’

She laughed, pushing him off ‘Well, I’m only telling you so you can get me an awesome wedding gift. I hear round-the-world-cruises take some pre-booking.’

Arthur rolled his eyes but Morgana was talking again, ‘I’m serious though, Arthur. Don’t mess things up with Merlin. I could do with a decent brother in law.’

 

* * *

 

 

Arthur found Merlin outside on the tiny scrap of balcony that Gwen was obscenely proud of, sipping at some champagne, with 2 empty glasses at his feet. Sighing, Arthur reached over to tug the champagne out of his hands, ignoring the weak protestations. ‘You’ll thank me later, trust me’ he said before leaning against the railing next to Merlin.

Merlin leaned against him ‘It’s nearly tomorrow.’

Arthur frowned ‘Merlin, you’re making less sense than usual, and that is probably a cause for major concern.’

Merlin scowled at him ‘I’m making perfect sense. It _is_ nearly tomorrow. It’s like,’ he checked his watch, his arm only a little wobbly, ‘eleven o clock. That’s nearly tomorrow’

‘Well, so what?’

Merlin sighed, a long exhalation that lasted far longer than was normal, and ended on a breathy ‘Nothing’ then he turned his forehead into Arthur’s arm ‘Thing’s will be back to the way they were.’

Arthur’s stomach tightened slightly, but he ignored it ‘Well, it won’t be Valentine’s Day anymore, so, I guess so, yeah.’

‘You and me will be back to the way we were’ Merlin’s voice was slightly muffled in Arthur’s jacket, but even so, his words caused Arthur’s stomach to positively _constrict_. Which, again, he ignored.

‘Uh, yes, yes I suppose so.’

Merlin moaned ‘I wish Valentine’s Day were longer.’ And this time the words were so muffled that Arthur wasn’t even sure he had heard them correctly. Looking down at Merlin’s flushed cheeks, obviously tipsy, the light weight, Arthur found himself agreeing; he wished, for the first time in his life, that Valentine’s Day were longer. And when Arthur agreed with Merlin, the situation was almost certainly dire.

‘Merlin’ said Arthur, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling him further upright ‘ _Mer_ lin’

‘Mmmph, what?’

‘Stop being ridiculous and stand bloody _up_.’

Merlin grumbled but stood up, blinking drowsily at Arthur and looking quite glum. ‘Oh for God’s sake. Come _here_.’ Arthur tugged Merlin towards him; putting his hand on the back of Merlin’s neck and pulling him close so that their lips were just inches apart. Merlin’s eyes were wide, but focused on Arthur’s lips, his breaths short and shallow against Arthur’s cheek. Arthur paused, part of him worried about ruining their friendship, but then Merlin made this _noise_ and he just closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to Merlin’s and revelling in the soft hum in Merlin’s throat.

Arthur shifted slightly, wrapping his arms around Merlin’s waist and pressing their bodies together harder, and then Merlin’s hands were in his hair, and Arthur would _never_ admit to the sound he made when Merlin parted his lips, deepening the kiss into something far less than chaste.

When they broke apart, Arthur’s breathing heavy and Merlin’s pupil’s blown (although, that could have been from the drink) they just stared at each other.

‘That was good. Nice, um,’ Merlin tried again ‘I mean, we should probably, uh, do that... more?’

Arthur laughed ‘Yes, yes we definitely should, idiot.’

Merlin huffed ‘It's Valentine's day, Arthur. You can't be a prat.’

‘I don’t even _like_ Valentine’s day’ Arthur reminded him

‘Yes,’ Merlin kissed him ‘You do’

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comment's are love <3


End file.
